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Class-leading comforts compliment a tech-forward cabin to deliver the seamless, connected experience far exceeding your typical ground-bound rideshare. With a full suite of connectivity technologies such as video calling, wifi, artificial intelligence and wireless charging, passengers of Bell’s Urban Air Taxi will have the option to fully maximize their airtime - already a fraction of their ground-bound commute - or to just relax and enjoy the view of the world below.

Class-leading comforts compliment a tech-forward cabin to deliver the seamless, connected experience far exceeding your typical ground-bound rideshare. With a full suite of connectivity technologies such as video calling, wifi, artificial intelligence and wireless charging, passengers of Bell’s Urban Air Taxi will have the option to fully maximize their airtime - already a fraction of their ground-bound commute - or to just relax and enjoy the view of the world below.

Uber Elevate partner Bell unveiled its first flying taxi model, the Bell Nexus, at the Consumer Electronics Show this month. The Bell Nexus is designed to carry four passengers as part of Uber's air taxi service, UberAir, which is slated to start operating in 2023. However, Bell VP of Innovation Scott Drennan tells TechCrunch 2025 is probably the earliest we'll see a Bell flying taxi in the skies.

There’s a lot of excitement around self-driving cars at CES 2019, but Bell, one of the oldest and most innovative companies in the aviation sector for the past century or so, is skipping a step and going straight to that Jetsons-era staple: the flying car. Specifically, the company is unveiled a full-scale configuration and design of a vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi.

The air taxi, which totally gives off a Blade Runner spinner vibe, is called Bell Nexus and it’s powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system that features Bell’s signature powered lift concept, incorporating six tilting ducted fans that are designed to safely redesign air travel. Bell has brought the Nexus concept to CES previously but this year Bell seems to be offering more specifics on engineering and design than previously reported.

“As space at the ground level becomes limited, we must solve transportation challenges in the vertical dimension — and that’s where Bell’s on-demand mobility vision takes hold,” said Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell in a release. “The industry has anticipated the reveal of our air taxi for some time, so Bell is very proud of this moment. We believe the design, taken with our strategic approach to build this infrastructure, will lead to the successful development of the Bell Nexus to the world.”

Bell has a long and storied history, including the manufacture of fighter aircraft during WWII and famously the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft but for the past fifty years under the umbrella of Textron, it’s been most famous for building civilian and military helicopters. The company’s knowledge and expertise of non-wing-assisted flight would certainly be a benefit to developing and manufacturing VTOL aircraft.